**Set up Discourse on a cloud server in under 30 minutes** with zero knowledge of Ruby, Rails or Linux shell using our [Discourse Docker image][dd]. We prefer [Digital Ocean][do], although these steps may work on other cloud providers that also support Docker. Let's begin! # Create New Digital Ocean Droplet [Sign up for Digital Ocean][do], update billing info, then begin creating your new cloud server (Droplet). - Enter your domain `discourse.example.com` as the Droplet name. - The default of **1GB** RAM works fine for small Discourse communities. We do recommend 2 GB RAM for medium communities. - The default of **Ubuntu 14.04 LTS x64** works fine. Always select the latest 64-bit [LTS distribution][lts]. Create your new Droplet. You will receive a mail from Digital Ocean with the root password to your Droplet. (However, if you know [how to use SSH keys](https://www.google.com/search?q=digitalocean+ssh+keys), you may not need a password to log in.) # Access Your Droplet Connect to your Droplet via SSH, or use [Putty][put] on Windows: ssh root@192.168.1.1 Replace `192.168.1.1` with the IP address of your Droplet. You will be asked for permission to connect, type `yes`, then enter the root password from the email Digital Ocean sent you when the Droplet was set up. You may be prompted to change the root password, too. # Set up Swap (if needed) - If you're using the minimum 1 GB install, you *must* [set up a swap file](https://meta.discourse.org/t/create-a-swapfile-for-your-linux-server/13880). - If you're using 2 GB+ memory, you can probably get by without a swap file. # Install Docker / Git wget -qO- https://get.docker.io/ | sh # Install Discourse Create a `/var/discourse` folder, clone the [Official Discourse Docker Image][dd] into it, and make a copy of the config file as `app.yml`: mkdir /var/discourse git clone https://github.com/discourse/discourse_docker.git /var/discourse cd /var/discourse cp samples/standalone.yml containers/app.yml # Edit Discourse Configuration Edit the Discourse configuration at `app.yml`: nano containers/app.yml We recommend Nano because it works like a typical GUI text editor, just use your arrow keys. - Set `DISCOURSE_DEVELOPER_EMAILS` to your email address. - Set `DISCOURSE_HOSTNAME` to `discourse.example.com`, this means you want your Discourse available at `http://discourse.example.com/`. You'll need to update the DNS A record for this domain with the IP address of your server. - Place your mail credentials in `DISCOURSE_SMTP_ADDRESS`, `DISCOURSE_SMTP_PORT`, `DISCOURSE_SMTP_USER_NAME`, `DISCOURSE_SMTP_PASSWORD`. Be sure you remove the comment `#` character and space from the front of these lines as necessary. - If you are using a 1 GB instance, set `UNICORN_WORKERS` to 2 and `db_shared_buffers` to 128MB so you have more memory room. After completing your edits, press CtrlO then Enter to save and CtrlX to exit. # Email Is Important **Email is CRITICAL for account creation and notifications in Discourse. If you do not properly configure email before bootstrapping YOU WILL HAVE A BROKEN SITE!** - Already have a mail server? Great. Use your existing mail server credentials. - No existing mail server, or you don't know what it is? No problem, create a free account on [**Mandrill**][man] (or [Mailgun][gun], or [Mailjet][jet]), and use the credentials provided in the dashboard. - For proper email deliverability, you must set the [SPF and DKIM records](http://help.mandrill.com/entries/21751322-What-are-SPF-and-DKIM-and-do-I-need-to-set-them-up-) in your DNS. In Mandrill, that's under Sending Domains, View DKIM/SPF setup instructions. # Bootstrap Discourse Save the `app.yml` file, and begin bootstrapping Discourse: ./launcher bootstrap app This command takes about 8 minutes. It is automagically configuring your Discourse environment. After that completes, start Discourse: ./launcher start app Congratulations! You now have your own instance of Discourse! It should be accessible via the domain name `discourse.example.com` you entered earlier, provided you configured DNS. If not, you can also visit the server IP directly, e.g. `http://192.168.1.1`. # Register New Account and Become Admin There is a reminder at the top about `DISCOURSE_DEVELOPER_EMAILS`; register a new account via one of those email addresses, and your account will automatically be made an Admin. (If you *don't* get any email from your install, and are unable to register a new admin account, please see our [Email Troubleshooting checklist](https://meta.discourse.org/t/troubleshooting-email-on-a-new-discourse-install/16326).) You should see Staff topics and the [Admin Quick Start Guide](https://github.com/discourse/discourse/blob/master/docs/ADMIN-QUICK-START-GUIDE.md). It contains the next steps for further configuring and customizing your Discourse install. (If you are still unable to register a new admin account via email, see [Create Admin Account from Console](https://meta.discourse.org/t/create-admin-account-from-console/17274), but please note that *you will have a broken site* unless you get email working on your instance.) # Post-Install Maintenance We strongly suggest you turn on automatic security upates for Ubuntu via the `dpkg-reconfigure -plow unattended-upgrades` command. To **upgrade Discourse to the latest version**, visit `/admin/upgrade` and follow the instructions. The `launcher` command in the `/var/discourse` folder can be used for various kinds of maintenance: ``` Usage: launcher COMMAND CONFIG [--skip-prereqs] Commands: start: Start/initialize a container stop: Stop a running container restart: Restart a container destroy: Stop and remove a container enter: Use nsenter to enter a container ssh: Start a bash shell in a running container logs: Docker logs for container mailtest: Test the mail settings in a container bootstrap: Bootstrap a container for the config based on a template rebuild: Rebuild a container (destroy old, bootstrap, start new) ``` # Add More Discourse Features Do you want... * Users to log in *only* via your pre-existing website's registration system? [Configure Single-Sign-On](https://meta.discourse.org/t/official-single-sign-on-for-discourse/13045). - Users to log in via Google? (new Oauth2 authentication) [Configure Google logins](https://meta.discourse.org/t/configuring-google-login-for-discourse/15858). - Users to log in via Facebook? [Configure Facebook logins](https://meta.discourse.org/t/configuring-facebook-login-for-discourse/13394). - Users to log in via Twitter? [Configure Twitter logins](https://meta.discourse.org/t/configuring-twitter-login-for-discourse/13395/last). - Users to post replies via email? [Configure reply via email](https://meta.discourse.org/t/set-up-reply-via-email-support/14003). - Automatic daily backups? [Configure backups](https://meta.discourse.org/t/configure-automatic-backups-for-discourse/14855). - HTTPS / SSL support? [Configure SSL](https://meta.discourse.org/t/allowing-ssl-for-your-discourse-docker-setup/13847). - Multiple Discourse sites on the same server? [Configure multisite](https://meta.discourse.org/t/multisite-configuration-with-docker/14084). - A Content Delivery Network to speed up worldwide access? [Configure a CDN](https://meta.discourse.org/t/enable-a-cdn-for-your-discourse/14857). We recommend [Fastly](http://www.fastly.com/). - Import old content from vBulletin, PHPbb, Vanilla, Drupal, BBPress, etc? [See our open source importers](https://github.com/discourse/discourse/tree/master/script/import_scripts) - A firewall on your server? [Configure firewall](https://meta.discourse.org/t/configure-a-firewall-for-discourse/20584) If anything needs to be improved in this guide, feel free to ask on [meta.discourse.org][meta], or even better, submit a pull request. [dd]: https://github.com/discourse/discourse_docker [man]: https://mandrillapp.com [ssh]: https://help.github.com/articles/generating-ssh-keys [meta]: https://meta.discourse.org/t/beginners-guide-to-deploy-discourse-on-digital-ocean-using-docker/12156 [do]: https://www.digitalocean.com/?refcode=5fa48ac82415 [lts]: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LTS [jet]: http://www.mailjet.com/pricing [gun]: http://www.mailgun.com/ [put]: http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html